New Beginnings
by brittany813
Summary: The journey from the end of the war all the way to 19 years later. A story that picks up exactly where JKR left off. HG all the way. A lil bit of RHr thrown in for good measure. Rated T for now. Might change later. Who knows?


_Authors Note: I do not own the characters. If I did, I would be a millionaire and I would be on a nice vacation somewhere tropical._

New Beginnings

Chapter One

Harry made his way towards the nearly demolished Great Hall with his two best friends by his side. They walked in silence, all three too exhausted to even attempt to form words. Harry grasped both his own wand and the Elder wand tightly and for the first time he became aware of how badly he was in need of a shower. His robes were caked in dirt and blood and Merlin only knows what else. Before he could succumb to a hot shower and a warm bed he had other things that needed to be taken care of.

Muttering something about needing to be alone to his two companions, he veered away from the Great Hall, instead exiting onto the grounds that were now host to the dead bodies of Death Eaters as well as the bits of the castle that had fallen in various places. He carefully walked toward his destination, stepping over bodies and avoiding the pools of blood that surrounded them, until he finally came into view of Dumbledore's tomb.

There was a long, jagged crack in the cool marble and for the first time Harry began to dread what was inside the tomb. He approached it at an infinitely slow speed, knowing that it was futile to hope that someone else would come and do the deed for him. He knew that it had to be him, for the same reason that it had to be him to defeat Voldemort. He was the only one who could selflessly give up the Elder wand in such a manner and it was not doing so that was difficult, but the idea of how months of decay would've affected his dear headmaster's body that he knew was lying in the open tomb.

Finally he got near enough to peer into the tomb, and to his relief, Dumbledore looked exactly as he had the day he was placed in it. He looked as if he might have been sleeping, but Harry knew better. He supposed that someone must've placed some sort of charm on him, to preserve his body forever. Taking a deep breath, Harry withdrew the Elder wand and placed it into one of the white hands that was lying calmly upon the headmaster's chest. Taking one last look at the corpse Harry gave his own wand a swish and repaired the tomb that was hopefully never to be desecrated again.

Suddenly Harry heard the crackling of a twig behind him and he whirled around, wand at the ready, to see who his attacker was. His paranoia faded as he recognized Ginny Weasley. Ginny was nearly as dirty as Harry himself with the exception of her cheeks which had long streaks that bore no dirt. Ginny gave a shuddering sigh as her eyes met Harry's and instantly they were in one another's arms. Neither was sure which one of them had initiated it, but neither really cared at the moment either.

Harry felt, rather than heard, the sob that came from Ginny as he pressed himself against her, his arms wrapped around her waist, while hers were around his neck. He knew better than to tell her that it would all be ok, because it wasn't. She had lost her brother to Voldemort and nothing could ever make that ok. The thought of Fred, Remus, and Tonks brought tears to Harry's own eyes, but he fought them back as he tightened his hold on Ginny, extracting as much comfort as he was giving. One of his hands slid upwards from its resting place on her back and came instead to her cheek, where it wiped away the silent tears that had fallen. Ginny looked up at Harry, her eyes drinking in every feature of the face that had fueled her every move for so long.

Harry was drinking her in as well. After so many months of watching the Marauder's Map for any sign of her and wondering if she was ok or not she was right here in his arms and that was where he wanted her to stay forever. "It's over," he breathed, finally breaking the silence that neither had realized was weighing so heavily on them both.

Ginny merely nodded, her glistening eyes betraying her, as Harry could see the tears before they even fell. Slowly Harry bent his head and softly brushed his lips across hers, eliciting feelings that he had forgotten he could feel. He slowly tilted his head forward so that they were forehead to forehead, nose to nose, their lips only centimeters apart and as if they were one being, both of their eyelids fluttered open and once again brown met green. Without a word, they simultaneously ended their embrace and Harry reached for her hand as they walked back up to the castle, silent once more.

Harry knew that eventually they would talk and he would tell her everything that had occurred since he, Ron and Hermione had left that summer. But for right now they simply drew comfort from one another's presence, each grieving the losses that they had sustained that night.

_Please remember to review. Constructive criticism is always appreciated. As are reviews just to tell me that I'm a wonderful goddess and that I write better than JKR ever could :P_


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